Dawn of a New Era

Chapter 14: Complicated Thoughts

Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
Zhang Qianru instantly felt her interest dipping. Working so hard yet not having good results? Didn’t that mean Chen Shouyi was stupid?

But then Lu Shuyuan asked in puzzlement, “Your elder brother’s martial dao is so strong, why would he still work so hard in his studies?”

“My brother’s martial dao is very strong?” Chen Xingyue’s eyes were wide open as a look of doubt appeared on her face.

“Didn’t you realize when he walks, there is an extremely natural rhythm to him that is very similar to our martial teacher?”

“How can that be possible?!” Even before Chen Xingyue could react, Zhang Qianru already said out the words in Chen Xingyue’s heart

The martial teacher of their class was a true martial practitioner. Although he had an incurable injury from witchcraft attacks due to exploring the Other World and had no choice but to be an ordinary martial teacher in her school, his strength was still something a martial apprentice couldn’t compare to.

For the first time, Chen Xingyue seriously surveyed Chen Shouyi who was queueing up.

His hands were on his waist and his head was lowered. It was unknown what he was contemplating about. He stood in a completely lax and undisciplined way; he had no image at all.

In the past, she would always frown when she saw this, exasperated by the fact that her elder brother would always not live up to expectations. But now, maybe it was an illusion, but this sort of lax standing posture caused her to feel as though her brother was a leopard lying on the ground, able to pounce and lunge toward his prey at an instant.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered that scene not long ago where a wooden chopstick had pierced into the wall. At that time, she still thought it was a coincidence. But now…

“Brother!” Her heart stirred as she called out.

After that, she stared unblinkingly at his movements.

As long as one learned force exertion of the martial path, there would be traces of it in their movements. Maybe, in their walking, or…

Chen Shouyi indifferently turned. “What’s the matter?”

Chen Xingyue fell into a daze, but after she had regained her senses, she instantly spoke, “Nothing, I just feel like calling you.”

“Crazy.” Chen Shouyi silently mumbled.

“Have you discovered it already?” Lu Shuyuan spoke in a low voice, “When ordinary people turn their heads to look at things at an angle of fewer than 15 degrees, they would only turn their heads because it is the most force efficient and convenient way. But for those experienced martial apprentices and martial practitioners, things are different. When they turn, they would use their entire spine, along with their hips and thighs. A series of muscles would work together, linking up to produce the whole movement.

“Because after long-term force exertion exercises, these have already become their habit that’s carved deep in their bones.”

“This might not be his strength; it might be a coincidence.” Chen Xingyue still found it tough to accept this. Her thoughts were extremely complicated now.

“Then, did you observe him when he is walking? If you have seen how he walks, you wouldn’t say this. Each of his steps seemed to contain the essence of a standard ‘basic step’. Every time he moved, he gives off a feeling like he is floating in the air.

“Either he has already become a martial apprentice long ago or his ‘enter meditation to train the body’ is about to finish training the entirety of the muscles in his body.”

“It seems so. Xingyue, why do I feel that you don’t really understand your brother?” Zhang Qianru spoke, feeling somewhat strange.

Chen Xingyue opened her mouth. In the end, she didn’t say anything, but her thoughts grew even more complicated.

……

Once 8.30 am arrived, the Martial Apprentice Test started.

There were many items needed to be tested in the Martial Apprentice Test. Just for the physical capabilities test alone, there were the hundred-meter sprint, bench press, weight lifting, deep squats, archery, as well as the most difficult cold weapons real combat.

“No. 102 Chen Xingyue obtained 10.11s in the hundred-meter sprint. Passed!”

“No. 102 Chen Xingyue bench pressed 155 kg. Passed”

“No. 102 Chen Xingyue can perform a deep squat with 265 kg. Passed!”

…

The physical requirements for female martial apprentices were much lower compared to males. Chen Shouyi suddenly felt some sense of gratification when he discovered that he could absolutely pass if he registered himself for the female Martial Apprentice Test.

“Elder brother Shouyi, do you want some water?” Lu Shuyuan had a shy look on her face as she passed over a bottle of water.

“Oh, thanks.” After Chen Shouyi received it, he drank a mouthful and casually asked, “Are you Xingyue’s classmate?”

“Yes, we are both from the martial class. I’m actually sharing the same desk as her.” Lu Shuyuan had a cute look on her face as she replied.

“We are both Xingyue’s good friends.” On the other side, Zhang Qianru also wasn’t willing to admit inferiority as she came over. Her figure exuded enthusiasm, and her body brushed near Chen Shouyi’s arm in a seemingly intentional and unintentional manner.

The soft feel of a young girl’s body caused Chen Shouyi to turn stiff.

Luckily, Chen Xingyue returned at this time, and only then did Chen Shouyi heave a sigh of relief, “Ah, Xingyue has passed all the physical requirements of the test!”

Chen Xingyue was expressionless when she returned, not looking too excited. When she glanced at Chen Shouyi, her expression was complicated and there was a hint of depression as well.

He was completely clueless, but he didn’t overthink things. “Do you want to rest for a while before taking the archery test?”

Chen Xingyue nodded but didn’t speak. She took the bottle of water Lu Shuyuan had passed her and drank a mouthful before she closed her eyes and meditated at the side.

After ten minutes, Chen Xingyue stood up and walked to the archery test zone, beginning the archery test.

There were two criteria for the archery test. The first was fixed targets, the second was moving targets. Both criteria had very strict requirements with regard to timing.

One had to shoot ten arrows in ten seconds. This indicated that one had to shoot an arrow every second.

But Chen Xingyue easily passed this test. Regardless of fixed targets or moving targets, each of her arrows was filled with power and hit the targets squarely.

After the test, Chen Xingyue didn’t relax but actually grew more nervous instead. Even her countenance was strained, and a trace of cold intent surfaced in her eyes.

“Xingyue, your sword techniques have always been the best. You can do it for sure!” Zhang Qianru encouraged.

“Teacher said that you could pass. It means you definitely can pass! He is a true martial practitioner after all!” said Lu Shuyuan.

Chen Shouyi also consoled her, “Actually, you don’t need to care about this too much. If you fail this time, you can still come back again in the future.”

Chen Xingyue angrily rolled her eyes at him. She seemingly wanted to say something to retort, but the tension in her heart seemed to be gone now.

The few of them accompanied Chen Xingyue and rested for a total of half an hour before they headed to the platform used for cold weapons real combat.

The opponents for the cold weapons real combat weren’t real humans but a testing robot instead. Although it was a robot, it didn’t resemble a human at all. It was fixed on the platform, and both its mechanical hands were holding a wooden sword and a three meters long spear.

The condition to pass this was very simple. One had to unleash a powerful attack using weapons on its alloy body.

At this moment, there was someone currently taking the test.

The test-taker was a middle-aged man about thirty years of age. His expression was heavy as he walked toward the platform.

There was a response zone on the platform. As long as one entered it, the robot would be able to discern if one was a test taker and began the combat exam.

The middle-aged man walked over to the response zone, but his steps soon stopped.

Chen Shouyi noticed cold sweat dripping from the man’s forehead. The man took a few deep breaths and braced himself for a few seconds before stepping forward determinedly.

“The test begins!”

As the mechanical voice rang out from the robot, its two arms began to move rapidly.

The middle-aged man gave a low shout. He executed the basic steps and moved two meters with a single step, instantly entering the attacking radius of the robot. At this moment, the robot’s mechanical arms suddenly responded with shocking speed.

Its right hand that was wielding a spear suddenly bent at the joint and pierced toward him with lightning speed.

The middle-aged man’s basic steps weren’t bad. His arm shook and the long spear was parried, shifted away by his wooden sword. Following the direction of the force, he continued advancing forward and was now only two meters away from the robot.

However, at this moment, the robot’s left hand suddenly shot out instantly like a venomous snake, aiming for the middle-aged man’s head.

Chen Shouyi almost exclaimed out loud in shock when he saw this.

Luckily, the robot’s calculations had no mistakes and tragedy didn’t occur. The wooden sword suddenly stopped an inch away from the man’s forehead.

“Failure.”

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It was unknown if the man was shocked by the dangerous situation earlier or the impact of him failing this, but he stood dumbfoundedly at his location for several seconds and his face was pale. He only regained his senses after a while before staggering down the platform.

The second person to take the test also failed.

It was the same for the third person as well.

A series of failures caused Chen Xingyue to grow increasingly nervous.

Chen Shouyi discovered that she was clenching her hands. And because she used too much strength, even her joints had turned white.